Peters



W. H. LEWIS. PILM SUPPORTING PRAMP POR PHOTO CAMERAS.

Patented May 7, 1889.

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(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

WILLIAM II. LETVIS, OF BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOR TO E. it Il. T. ANTHONY d: COMPANY, OF NEYV YORK, Y.

FILM-SUPPORTING FRAME FOR PHOTO-CAMERAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 402,680, dated May '7, 1889.

Application tiled December 13,1888. Serial No. 293,492. (No model.)y

i" 0 all whom it may con-cera:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM Il'. LEWIS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Film Supporting Frames for Photographic Cameras, of Awhich the following is a speeciiication.

My invention relates to an improved device whereby sensitized photographic films or sheetsj so called, may be used in plate-holders intended for use with glass dry-plates, so called, and in the same manner as dry-plates are now used, whereby those .now owning cameras provided with plate-holders intended for use with dry-plates may, without change therein, use photographic films interchangeably with the dry-plates; and my invention in its most approved form is so constructed that the sensitive surface of the iilni will be as accurately located relative to the focus of thelens as is the sensitive surface of the dryplate.

The invention consists in the coi'istruotion of the film holding and suppoi'tin g frame, hereinafter set forth, and in its combination with a sensitive iilni, substantially as claimed.

In the drawings the saine reference-letters indicate the saine parts in all the figures.

Figure I illustrates a side plan view of a plate-holder, the filin being in position and the slide withdrawn. Fig. 2 illustrates avertical sectional view on the line Q5 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 illustrates a horizontal view on the lines y y of FieA l. Fig. et illustrates an enlarged sectional view the same as Fig. 2. Fig. 5 illustrates a perspective view of the iilni in position on the supporting-plate separated from the plate-holder. Fig. G illustrates a plan of a plate-holder, the film-supporting plate being so constructed and arranged that the iilin is presented to the lens in position to take a horizontal picture instead of a vertical. one, as shown in Fig. l.

A is the plate-holdeiz It is or may be constrncted in all respects as new usual-*that is to say, it has the end bars, B, the side bars, C, which are provided with rabbets or ledges C", (best seen in. Fig. 4,) against which the sensitive surface of the dry-plates er the surface of the film, as the case maybe, rests. It also has the slides D D', and if it be a double plate-holder, as shown, it has the usual central diaphragm, E, provided with springs F, for pressing the sensitive surface against the ledges C. (Best seen in Fig. 5.)

G is the film-supporting Vfraniepvhich is the special subject of this invention. It consists of a plate or piece of material, Il, which is of the saine size as the dry-plate intended to be used in the plate-liolder, whatever that size Inay be. I prefer to Inake it of a hard tough quality of pastebcard or straw-board of sufficient thickness to be quite stiff and not easily bent. It may, however, be made of wood, metal, or other preferred material. This plate is provided at each end with flan ges I I,which are attached to the end of the plate in any preferred manner and overlap it, extending inwardly, and are separted from the surface of the plate by a distance suiiicient to allow the easy insertion under them of the sensitized film. I show the flanges as made of metal, suitably bent into proper form and having tangs 'L' "1', dic., which pierce the plate G and are riveted on the upper side thereof. This is one method only, however, of making and securing the iianges. They may be made of such material as desired and attached to the plate, or made of the saine piece with the plate a-nd in any desired inanner. I prefer that the ends of these flanges (shown at h- 7L, Fig. 5) should not entend quite to the edges of the plate, but should be cutoff at such distance therefrom that the ends of the flanges will. not touch. the ledges C C on the plateholder. Thus they will not interfere with the accuracyof focus ofthe sensitized iilni, because the sei'isitive surface of the film will then rest immediately upon the ledges C C exactly as the sensitized surface on the dry plate does when it is used. .lis the sensitized lm. It may be inade in any desired manner and of any preferred material, including both the sensitizing material as well as the supporting sheet or fabric; but I have found that the now well-known Celluloid sheet, coated with gelatino-argentic emulsion, acts very successfully in. connection with my device. Paper oi other fabric may, however, be used, as stated. This sensitized iilni is cut of such size that it substantially coincides with the dimensions of the plate Il, and consequently when in po- IOO sition on that plate, with its ends under the flanges II, they will hold it down endwise, and the edges of the lm, (seen at K K,) projecting laterally beyond the ends of the iianges, come in contact with the ledges C C on the plateholder, and, being firmly pressed against said ledges by the operation of the springs F F, they are fiattened out .into intimate contact with the plate G, and thus the whole surface 0f the sensitized film is made to rest snugly against the surface of the plate H, and is therefore brought into proper focal position.

It will be observed that in the use of my frame I avail myself of a physical law that governs all fabrics of the classes under contemplati0n*t. e.,lthat they all warp or` curl in the direction or toward the surface upon which the sensitizing material is applied. Thus the resiliency of the sheet or film compels it to hug close upon and conform to the surface of the supporting-plate.

From the foregoing it will be seen that by my invention sensitized sheets made of such fabric as preferred, now ordinarily called photographic films, may be used interchangeably with dry-plates in plate-holders intended for use with dry-plates only and. that no change Whatever is needed in the plateholders; also, that the same film-supporting frame, G, may be reused indefinitely, and also that by putting the flanges on the long sides of the plate H, instead of on the shorter sides or ends, as seen in Fig, 6, the films may be used for taking horizontal pictures, thus there being a considerable saving effected in the amount of film required, because only so much is used as is required for the picture, there being` no necessity for endwise extension of the film for the purposes of support or to stretch it, as is necessary under the methods now employed for the use of such films.

My nlm-supporting frames are exceedingly inexpensive, and, being light in weight and non-fragible, are manifestly superior to the glass dry-plates now in use.

Having described my invention, I claim- As a new article of manufacture, a frame for a sensitized photographic film or sheet comprising a supporting-plate having flanges at opposite sides thereof, the ends of which fall short of the edges of the supporting-plate by a distance sufficient to clear the plate-supporting ledges of the plate-holder, substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 11th day of December, A. D. 1888.

WILLIAM l-I. LEWIS.

Witnesses:

PHILLIPS ABBOTT, WILLIAM ECK. 

